Openly Straight
By: Bill Konigsberg
Genre: YA LGBTQ
Pages: 336
Published: 2013
Read: June
3 out of 5
I have mixed feelings about this book.
At first I was annoyed by the jock gay teenager plot; I feel too many authors
are trying to express that jocks can be gay – it’s too cliché. Several areas of
the story seemed too superficial and stereotypical for me. Then I realized that
wasn’t what the book was about. Look at the title – Openly Straight. People aren’t openly straight…straight isn’t who
they are first. Once gay, why is it who everyone knows you as? Rafe leaves his
town so he can be “Rafe” and not “Rafe, who is gay”. He tries not to hide that
he is gay, but doesn’t want to be openly gay either. I feel most YA LBGQT novels are written to
help teens/young adults understand they aren’t alone and for their peers to realize
that gays are still individuals with feelings. While this book may achieve
that, I think there are more enjoyable reads out there such as Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green
and David Levithan and Beautiful Music
for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills.
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